First Day of Summer!

So, my unit is celebrating 90 days in Afghanistan this week; we are 33% done with our mission!  The female officers are hosting a 4^th of July get-together on the balcony of our barracks. We all have been saving treats sent from home so it should be a fun way of toasting to 90 days less in Afghanistan!

 Flying over kabul

This past week I spent some  time traveling around the Helmond Province of Afghanistan.  Currently, 50% of the world’s opium is grown in the Helmond Province and over 50% of the population of Helmond earns their living with opium.  So, the Taliban is very interested in keeping the province under their control, meaning our forces are kept very busy in this area.  The original mission was to last 8 days, but to avoid staying in a hostile area longer than needed, we pushed ourselves relentlessly and were home in 5 days! I travel as the Medical Officer with a Legal Officer and Senior MP as a team that inspects capture points throughout the area.  We usually have 2-3 Marine escorts, but for this mission we picked up 4 extra Marines as security.  As a result, most of our transportation this time was provided by the Marine Corps, so we hopped from fob to fob on an Osprey!

Our Osprey Gunner - On Alert

For those not familiar with the Osprey, it is a hybrid helicopter/jet aircraft.  It has the ability to take off like a helicopter from very small landing areas then the rotors rotate 90 degrees and then the aircraft turns into a jet!  Once the next landing site is reached, the rotors rotate again and the bird  quickly decelerates, turning into a helicopter in order to land. With this kind of transportation, we were able to travel and inspect 3 outlying fobs a day, versus 1 fob a day using more conventional air travel/convoy methods.

Sun as seen through a dust storm

This trip had me the farthest into combat areas of Afghanistan and the fobs were very primitive.  One place did not even have porta-potties, instead small areas were set aside housing “wag-bags” and “p-pipes” dug into the ground.  A shower truck comes in about once a week for the marines and soldiers to wash up and about twice a month a small MCx (marine corps exchange) truck shows up selling cigarettes, Monster drinks and junk food as well as a few uniform items. Most of these troops have breakfast served out of ice chests consisting of processed egg products and boxed milk, the rest of the day’s food comes from MREs or any snacks they may have had sent from home.  The average daytime temperature while we were in the area was 124 degrees with a low of 92 in the evening.  We were all wringing wet from sweat as we packed our gear from one area to another, drinking water constantly to try to avoid heat injury. One of the marines did take ill during our travels; luckily he had a medic (me!) and after some simple medical aid and a bit of rest he was up and running full speed for the remainder of the trip. It just goes to show you how precarious the balance is between wellness and injury and the remoteness of the area can put you at a dangerous disadvantage.

Taliban Opium Transport - I couldn't resist!
My BB is working on me to be spontanteous
so this one is for you BB!

My biggest highlight of the trip was when we were flying over the central region, towards dusk when suddenly the gunner came alert and started firing his 50 cal towards the ground and the Osprey began taking evasive maneuvers: banking right and left in a graceful arc. I looked out the open tail of the aircraft just in time to see two bright red rockets pass behind us and to see the gunner really open up. As we headed out of the area, the pilot let out some flares to mark the enemy to help our troops fighting down below.  I mostly remember how bright the rockets seemed and how calm I actually felt during the entire 60-90 seconds the whole event took to unfold.  I was very proud of our troops and had 100% confidence in our pilot and crew.  It was an amazing experience.

A friendly face on my travels - Sgt Sanchez - great to see him and catch up

So, after finally catching a C130 for the trip home, I lucked out and was able to catch a MP transport back to my base, where I promptly took a much overdue shower and nap!

Other than my little trip, I continue to stay busy providing medical care, writing SOPs and spending my time with the great soldiers of my unit. And, before I forget a giant thank you for the great care packages that have found their way to me; having treats and goodies from home makes for a joyful day and gives me something to snack on when I don’t make it to the chow hall!

Blessings!